“It really put things into perspective—this guy woke up to make money for his family to eat, and didn’t come home that night, because he was saving our land” said Alim Charania, a Windsor resident whose family was forced to evacuate for a week due to the 2018 Kincade fire.
Viewing an article regarding a helicopter pilot who passed away in a crash while fighting the Sonoma, Solano, and Napa county fires in California is what inspired Alim to donate food to first responders in the area. This included delivering 40 boxes of pizza through methods such as driving out to road closure sights where Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies and mutual aid police officers were on duty.
Alim’s evacuation due to the 2018 Kincade fire left him reeling and also played a role in his decision to donate food to first responders, as “many of [his] close friends lost their homes. Some never returned and some were forced to sell because insurance companies shorted the true cost of rebuilding. The economy took a big hit here.”
Our Ismaili ethics of compassion and giving back to the community have been upheld by Alim. His efforts are not contained—he also serves as the community manager for the 3000+ member IPN Build group. Alim’s father, Mukhisaheb of Marin County’s Jamat, has always told Alim that “seva is giving back to the world because we are all one.”
Alim took action and expressed his values, serving as an inspiration to others as he has displayed that you are never too young to get involved, inside or outside of Jamatkhana. As Marin County has a relatively small Jamat, Alim says “we were raised doing most of the operational duties for Jamatkhana.”
The passion for service, as seen in Alim, has been nurtured from a young age. Such positive youth development is what enables our youth to blossom into out-of-the-box thinkers that use innovation to aid their communities, and to be able to grow closer to attaining the ultimate goal of mitigating poverty and creating a pluralistic society.
It starts from holding doors for others in Jamatkhana as a youth volunteer and then leads up to bigger initiatives like Alim’s. Although, as a child, one may be barely able to hold a door open, the smile on a Jamati member’s face as one greets them, is the beginning of understanding service.
Alim graduated 16 months ago from San Jose State University. He is a tech startup entrepreneur, and a full-time software developer—working from home. He co-founded Seasonshare.com, a platform to split and share sports season tickets, and is developing a fantasy sports app called Prize Picks. He says “My parents played a big role in my success. Theory provided me with the foundation to take risks and work in an industry that interests me, such as sports tech.”
By taking action to aid and appreciate those who put out fires, Alim has managed to ignite a fire as well, one of passion for giving back to the community and one that will hopefully ignite a spark in others to help them shine.
